Papa the Holy

Papa the Holy (243-327 AD) was Patriarch of the East from 280 to 327, succeeding Shahlufa and preceding Shemon Bar Sabbae.

Biography
Papa was born in 243, and he was appointed Patriarch of the East by two bishops in 280 AD so that the Persian capital of Ctesiphon could have its own bishop and diocese. Papa was strong-willed, hot-tempered, and a capable scholar in both Persian and Syriac, and he reorganized the Persian church by making himself its head. In 315, a council was summoned to question Papa's assertion of authority over the other bishops. The judges said that, if Papa would not allow for men to judge him, the Gospel would, and Papa blasphemously cried, "Then speak, Gospel! Speak!" He then suffered from a stroke, and the crowd believed that his stroke was proof of the accusations. He was then deposed as Patriarch, but he was later restored after appealing to the Bishop of Edessa, and he died in 327.